{"id":160698,"date":"2025-07-10T12:33:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T12:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/160698\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T12:33:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T12:33:13","slug":"okc-thunder-las-vegas-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/160698\/","title":{"rendered":"OKC Thunder Las Vegas Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1752150793_532_960x0.jpg\" alt=\"NBA Salt Lake City Summer League -  Oklahoma City Thunder v Philadelphia 76ers\" data-height=\"2680\" data-width=\"3974\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"color-body light-text\" role=\"button\">SALT LAKE CITY, UT &#8211; JULY 7 : Brooks Bamhizer #23 of the Oklahoma City Thunder walks up the court &#8230; More during a foul shot against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half of their NBA Summer League game at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on July 7, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Following a 1-2 record during a stint in Salt Lake City, the Oklahoma City Thunder will continue its NBA Summer League with at least five more games in Las Vegas. As all 30 teams compete on the campus of UNLV, future stars will showcase their upside ahead of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Who will be taking the floor for the Thunder in Las Vegas, and what should we be watching for?<\/p>\n<p>Schedule<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Each team will play at least five games in Las Vegas, with the chance of a sixth for the teams who make a run at the championship. To start, four games will be played by each squad, then the top four teams will advance to participate in the playoffs based on winning percentage in that first set of contests. The 26 teams that do not advance to the playoff will play a fifth game to round out their summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">July\u202f 10: Brooklyn Nets | 4:30\u202fPM on ESPN2<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">To kick off the Thunder\u2019s stint in Las Vegas, the Nets will be the first team on the schedule. An extremely young team overall, Brooklyn will look to showcase its five rookies taken in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. As such, this will be an opportunity for members of the OKC roster to go up against premier young talent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">July\u202f 12: Indiana Pacers | 4:30\u202fPM on NBA TV<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This will be an NBA Finals rematch, though the rosters will look much different. As both the Thunder and Pacers look toward the future and sustained competitive success, NBA Summer League serves as a forum for younger pieces of the roster to start stepping up and proving they deserve more of an opportunity to play in-season, including Enrique Freeman and Johnny Furphy for the Pacers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">July\u202f 15: Orlando Magic | 5:30\u202fPM on NBA TV<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Orlando has several interesting young pieces on its roster this summer, notably with Tristan da Silva from last season\u2019s rookie class alongside a pair of incoming rookies in Jase Richardson and Noah Penda. This will be a great test for the Thunder going up against three players expected to get NBA minutes this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">July\u202f 16: New Orleans Pelicans | 8:30\u202fPM on NBA TV<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Following an interesting 2025 NBA Draft, New Orleans has a pair of lottery rookies in Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen. Both have star upside if everything falls into place over the next few years, which speaks to the future potential of the Pelicans. It\u2019s unclear if those two will still be playing by this point in NBA Summer League, but New Orleans has a talented roster across the board that will make this a fun watch.<\/p>\n<p>Roster<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Although Oklahoma City\u2019s NBA Summer League roster is large, there are several key pieces who aren\u2019t actually suiting up. That includes recent first-round pick Thomas Sorber, as well as Viktor Lahkin and Payton Sandfort.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Here\u2019s the Thunder\u2019s official roster for NBA Summer League:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Zack Austin<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Brooks Barnhizer<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Ty Brewer<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Cameron Brown<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Branden Carlson<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Alex Ducas<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Cesare Edwards<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Jazian Gortman<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Viktor Lakhin<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Maley Leons<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Ajay Mitchell<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Erik Reynolds II<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Payton Sandfort<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Mady Sissoko<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Thomas Sorber<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Nikola Topi\u0107<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Kerwin Walton<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Hason Ward<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 Chris Youngblood<\/p>\n<p class=\"color-body light-text\" role=\"button\">OKC Thunder 2025 NBA Summer League Schedule <\/p>\n<p>Thunder PR<br \/>\nKey Players<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Ajay Mitchell<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Poised to take on a legitimate role with the Thunder this upcoming season, Mitchell will look to continue his phenomenal summer in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Nikola Topic<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">As he works his way back into shape following a year off from basketball due to injury, Topic will benefit greatly from more reps following a great showing in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Brooks Barnhizer<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Although he was taken in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft, Barnhizer has proven he can contribute to winning at the NBA level with his rebounding and defensive intensity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Jazian Gortman<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Although somewhat undersized, Gortman is a fluid offensive weapon who can score points in a hurry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Chris Youngblood<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">A surprise contributor in Salt Lake City, Youngblood has really impressed to this point in NBA Summer League as he battles for a spot on a roster around the league.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Malevy Leons<br \/>Entering his second Las Vegas stint with the Thunder, Leons is a fascinating prospect who plays an unorthodox game but is impactful.<\/p>\n<p>Additional Notes<\/p>\n<p> Brandon Carlson is set to be back in OKC on a two-way contract again this season after signing a deal with the Thunder earlier this week. Even then, he\u2019s dealing with an injury and it\u2019s unclear whether or not he\u2019ll get to play in Las Vegas.<br \/>\n After playing last season on a two-way contract with Oklahoma City, Alex Ducas has officially inked a deal with the Brisbane Bullets of the NBL, which is where he will begin a new chapter of his basketball career following NBA Summer League.<br \/>\n Given how much he\u2019s already proven, it\u2019s unclear just how much Ajay Mitchell will play in Las Vegas. He played a significant role in all three Salt Lake City games and may only play one or two games in this circuit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SALT LAKE CITY, UT &#8211; JULY 7 : Brooks Bamhizer #23 of the Oklahoma City Thunder walks up&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3783],"tags":[5577,7,8496,3112,6,3494,3110,878,310,475,179,3966,3965,312,15097,882,28545],"class_list":{"0":"post-160698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-ajay-mitchell","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-brooks-barnhizer","11":"tag-las-vegas-summer-league","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-nba-summer-league","14":"tag-nikola-topic","15":"tag-okc-thunder","16":"tag-oklahoma","17":"tag-oklahoma-city","18":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","19":"tag-oklahomacity","20":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","21":"tag-thunder","22":"tag-thunder-basketball","23":"tag-thunder-news","24":"tag-thunder-roster"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114828961653395142","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}